Monday, December 19, 2011

#MovieMonday - HBO John Adams Miniseries

So I guess technically, this is a “Miniseries” Monday post, but I absolutely had to share just how incredible this cinematic offering of David McCullough’s book (of the same name) is. If you haven’t seen it, get thee to your nearest Blockbuster (if it hasn’t been closed) and rent it, or else hop on Amazon and treat yourself to a libertarian stocking stuffer for the holidays.

One thing to remember about the American War for Independence is that it was a war of rebels fighting for their independence from the perpetual and costly warfare of an imperialist regime in London, with Thomas Paine arguing in his famous pamphlet Common Sense that as long as America remained under the rule of England, it would be drawn into her costly wars and become a target for her many enemies. The American rebels were also fighting for their monetary and economic independence from the powerful financial sector in London and its various machinations, as the John Adams miniseries makes especially clear in this exchange between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. The sage of Monticello contended in favor of a sane monetary policy and against financial slavery: